


Spark

by greenwillow



Category: The Last Kingdom (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, Hild/Uhtred briefly alluded to, Just a little post winter solstice fluff for ya, Technically within the universe of Top of the Class, Vaguely religious allusions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-24
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-10 16:42:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,857
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28250337
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/greenwillow/pseuds/greenwillow
Summary: It's the coldest weekend of the year and Hild loses heat in her apartment. Fortunately her downstairs neighbor is around to keep her company.
Relationships: Hild/Iseult (The Last Kingdom)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 5





	Spark

**Author's Note:**

> Based on a prompt from WildWren, thank you! I am unapologetically soft for these two <3

It had been an extremely long day at the end of an extremely long week—a long term, and a long year, even—and all Hild wanted to do when she got home was finish submitting her final evaluations and then go directly to bed. 

But the instant she unlocked her door she knew she was in for an unpleasant evening. 

The temperature inside was nearly as cold as the snowy December weather outside. Frost had even begun to form in the corners of the kitchen windows—old windows that the landlord had promised would be replaced months ago.

Hild sighed deeply, her breath creating a faint cloud as she exhaled. The same thing had happened last year right before Christmas. She should have expected it to happen again. It was going to be far too cold for her to concentrate on her work tonight. She really needed to find a new flat before her lease expired. 

The radiator in her bedroom was cold to the touch as she turned the dial back and forth to no avail. She sighed again, and in her irritation gave it a solid kick. It didn’t improve the functionality, but it did make her feel slightly better. 

Her fingers trembled with cold as she pulled her cellphone out of her coat pocket to call her landlord. They didn’t pick up, of course, so she left a somewhat curt message and made a mental note to phone again in an hour.

Accepting her fate, Hild slipped out of her coat and put on a pullover and cardigan over her turtleneck, then her coziest scarf. She was just struggling to pull her house shoes on over the bulk of two extra pairs of socks when she heard a knock at the door. 

Perhaps it was a repairman? Unlikely, but she wasn't expecting anyone else. 

She shuffled to the door and opened it to find Iseult, her downstairs neighbor. The neighbor she’d wanted to speak to a dozen times or more, but had not yet got up the courage. The neighbor she’d found herself wondering about on a lonely night more often than she cared to admit.

“I thought I’d find you home,” Iseult said. Fortunately, she did not appear to be clairvoyant.

Hild’s face must have registered some surprise because Iseult smiled slightly as she added, “I may have heard you kick the radiator.”

“Oh—sorry if I disturbed you,” Hild said, flushing a bit at how she’d let her temper get the better of her. Noting that her neighbor was also wrapped in several layers of knitwear she added, “I take it your heat is out as well.”

“It’s the whole building, I think.” Iseult’s voice sounded as irritated as Hild felt. 

“Would you like to come in?” Hild offered, and then immediately wondered if that was a stupid question. She had nothing much to offer, particularly without working radiators. 

Iseult smiled again, a bit softer this time, but her eyes brightened. “Thank you.”

“We may as well stick it out together, I suppose,” Hild said, knowing that she would not have the evening she had planned no matter what. 

She led the way into the kitchen and gestured to the electric kettle on her countertop. “Cocoa? At least we don’t have to rely on the gas for that.”

“Sounds lovely.” Iseult took a seat at the kitchen table, chafing her upper arms for warmth. 

“You haven’t lived in this building long, have you?” Hild asked as she set two mugs on the counter and turned the kettle on. 

“Only a few months. The start of your school year, I think.”

Hild glanced toward her guest, her mouth twitching into a smile despite her best efforts. She was surprised but pleased to find that she was apparently a person of interest. “Well, clearly you know I’m a teacher. What about yourself?”

“I’m a jewelry maker.” Iseult gestured to the earrings and necklace she was wearing. “I also do tarot readings out of my flat.”

“Ah.” Hild dropped her eyes to her hands and bit her lower lip.

“You do not approve, I know,” Iseult said in a carefree, almost musical tone. 

Hild turned back, eyebrows raised. “Oh?” 

Iseult huffed a gentle laugh. “It’s not an insult, Hild. I know that you are religious.”

Hild was about to ask how when her gaze fell on the wooden cross hanging above the sink. She turned back to see Iseult’s eyes alight with laughter. 

“You’re at church every Sunday, too. I hear you get up earlier that day, and sometimes I see you return in your formal clothing.”

Hild would not have characterized a mid-length wool skirt and a pair of oxfords as formal, but looking at Iseult in her worn, wide-legged corduroy pants and scuffed clogs perhaps they had different standards of formal wear. 

“So you’ve been spying on me,” she said, attempting to lighten her tone as she tore the cocoa packets. 

Iseult chuckled and pulled her sleeves down around her palms. 

“There is only so much to do during the day between appointments. I like to read by the window, so I happen to see everyone coming and going.”

Hild added hot water to the mugs, stirred, and added a bit more. The spoon clinking against the ceramic was the only noise in the room for a moment. 

“Thank you.” Iseult’s fingers brushed against hers as she accepted the mug of cocoa. Hild nodded, trying to ignore the fluttering in her chest, and took a seat across from her. 

“The heat’s not likely to be fixed today,” Hild informed her in a somewhat apologetic tone, as if it was her fault. “Last winter the same thing happened, and it took an entire weekend to resolve.”

Iseult’s eyes widened and she shivered reflexively. “Goodness, what did you do?”  
Hild remembered how Uhtred, who had been staying with Sihtric at the time, had come over and not left for…about seventy-two hours, by her calculations. That solution would not do this time around, and it wasn't just because he had a girlfriend. 

She cleared her throat. “Just…coped.”

“Well, do you have any tips for coping?” Iseult asked innocently.

Hild took a sip of cocoa, hiding behind her mug temporarily. “Lots of blankets, I suppose.”

“I have a hot water bottle, but I imagine you might have one too.”

Hild shrugged. “Yes. It helps, but…”

“Well, we may as well camp out together, in the meantime. That is…if I’m not overstepping.” 

Hild gazed across the table into Iseult’s warm brown eyes and wondered if there was any world in which she would deny her. 

“You’re not over stepping at all. But I confess, I may not be very good company tonight. I’m feeling rather crabby, to be perfectly honest.”

Iseult’s smile wrinkled her nose. “Crabby is fine by me.”

Hild’s smile in return felt a bit too broad, but she couldn’t help it. Iseult was charming in every sense of the word. She regretted it had taken her this long, and a minor catastrophe, to spend any time with her. 

“It’s warmer in the next room,” Hild offered, rising to her feet. “Better windows in there.”

They made their way to the couch, and Hild gathered every blanket she could find. She even brought her down comforter from the bedroom and offered half to Iseult, who graciously accepted. They were bundled up nicely now, though Hild found herself quite irritated when yet again their landlord ignored her call. Her irritation was tempered by her enjoyment of Iseult’s companionship and the low current of accompanying nervousness. 

She flicked on the television, not wanting to leave the burden of conversation entirely on her guest.

Iseult laid her head against the back of the couch, curling slightly on her side so her body faced Hild. 

Hild adjusted her posture, and her knee bumped up against Iseult’s leg. She nearly pulled back, but Iseult didn’t move away, so she didn’t either. 

Iseult leaned a bit closer after a time, eyes still fixed on the television, but Hild was finding it increasingly difficult to focus on anything other than the woman beside her. 

“Is your school term finished?” Iseult’s eyes opened and closed slowly. She seemed to be trying to keep herself awake.

“Yes, I won’t quite know what to do with myself for the next two weeks,” Hild replied. 

“What do you normally do between terms?”

“Well, they always need help at the church this time of year. That, and try to rest if I can.”

Iseult cocked her head slightly. “Rest is good.”

“I’m not very good at it, I'm afraid,” Hild felt compelled to admit. 

“Like everything, it requires a commitment to practice,” Iseult said softly.

She was sincere, but there was a kind of levity behind her demeanor. Something that made Hild feel a bit more seen than she typically did. Normally that would make her uncomfortable, but with Iseult, it didn’t. It was as if she was standing behind a sheer curtain, waiting to pull it aside and step forward, but in her own timing. 

“How would you advise I commit to practicing?” she asked, staring at the television but not watching. 

Iseult chuckled and pulled the comforter up around her neck. “This is a good start, here.”

Hild shivered and instinctively moved a bit closer. “I suppose this is God’s way of telling me to take the night off.”

“Does your god speak to you often through the incompetence of your landlord?” Iseult asked.

“Not exclusively, no.”

Iseult’s nose wrinkled in amusement and she leaned a bit closer still. 

When she took Hild’s hand under the coverlet, Hild was certain her heart had stopped beating.

Iseult’s eyes were clear and bright as she asked, “Does your god have rules about this?”

“Some men claim he does,” Hild murmured, “but I’m not in the habit of listening to men.”

Iseult’s smile widened as she leaned forward to brush a kiss to Hild’s lips. Hild’s breath caught. She froze, then cupped Iseult’s face gently as she kissed her back. 

It was a good kiss—perhaps a little awkward, somewhat tentative at first, but building in feeling almost immediately. A spark had ignited between them—cold flint and steel striking against each other and creating something beautiful that had not existed there before. 

Hild’s face grew warm—she was sure she was blushing quite deeply—and the heat spread throughout her body from her core. Her fingers, twined in Iseult’s, were still cold, but that’s not why they were trembling. 

“You don’t need much practice at that,” Iseult said coyly, leaning her forehead against Hild’s.

Hild felt a laugh tumble forth, and clasped Iseult’s hands between her own to warm them. 

Iseult laughed too, and tucked into her side. Hild wrapped an arm around her and pulled the coverlet tighter. 

Half an hour later, they were both asleep. They’d wake in the morning light, still wrapped up in each other, to a missed call from their landlord. The heat would be fixed in time, but they would devote themselves to other pastimes while they waited.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed you can reblog the photoset [here.](https://aadmelioraa.tumblr.com/post/638403981700448256/spark-hild-x-iseult-19k-it-had-been-an)


End file.
